Boston sports predictions for 2014

No Boston sports prediction entering 2013 would have been more brash than this: The Red Sox will win the World Series for the third time in 10 years. And you know how that played out—coming off a 69-win season, they proved that anything really is possible. None of our predictions for 2014 don’t have such long odds, but we do like the chances of at least some of them coming true.
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Ed Zurga

Patriots defeat the Chiefs to win the AFC title

I’m gonna give you the truth even though I could have gotten away with this like LeGarrette Blount gets away from Bills defenders: Originally, when I first started thinking about my 2014 predictions in mid-December, this item was slated to say: Ravens end Patriots in AFC Divisional Round. Given that the Ravens didn’t even make the playoffs, we can safely say that’s not happening. As for what will happen, I think we can agree on this: The 2013 Patriots are incredibly resilient. They’ve also lost a ton of talent to injury along the way, and they do have significant flaws. Fortunately, there’s no truly dominant AFC team this year. The Chiefs will hand Peyton Manning his eighth career one-and-done, and the Patriots will advance to the Super Bowl for the sixth time in the Belichick/Brady era. How will they fare? The crystal ball is hazy on that one.
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Jim Davis/Globe Staff

The Red Sox shave their beards in spring training

As wonderful as last season was for the Red Sox—and it probably had the highest fun-to-melodrama ratio of any team I can recall—it’s also true that no two teams and seasons are alike, and players like to forge new identities and bonds each spring. This group will still be unified, but they’ll find a less hirstute way of doing it. Well, except for Mike Napoli. His beard is at the point where it’s stronger than a Brillo pad and resistant to all attempts at shaving, plucking and detaching.
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Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Jon Lester signs a long-term contract with the Red Sox

Lester hasn’t even turned 30 yet—he will hit that milestone January 7—and he’s already spent a dozen years in the Red Sox organization, having been drafted in 2002. He’s had many more ups than downs, but we’ve watched him overcome adversity to become one of the great lefthanders in Red Sox history, and one of the best postseason pitchers (2.11 career ERA in 13 appearances) of his generation. Lester, a free-agent after this season, is positioned to be a Red Sox lifer, particularly if he’s willing to sign for a little less than contemporaries such as Zack Greinke and Cole Hamels got in recent years. The hunch here is that a five-year deal in the vicinity of $110 million gets done in late February.
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Elise Amendola/Getty Images

The Patriots spend their first-round draft pick on a defensive lineman

It’s too soon to give you a name—we’ll leave that to the Mel Kipers and Mike Mayocks of the world a few months from now. But it’s evident that the interior defensive line is a need of primary importance to the Patriots. Vince Wilfork (pictured) is 32 years old and trying to come back from an Achilles’ injury. Tommy Kelly, 33, was lost for the season in November with a knee injury. And while a cast of unknown fill-ins and street free-agents has put in an admirable effort, it’s tough to tell whether Sealver Siliga, Chris Jones, and Joe Vellano are worth keeping around. The dream scenario for the Patriots is to hit the jackpot just as they did in 2004, when they stole Wilfork with the 21st overall pick.
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Jeff Curry

Xander Bogaerts makes the AL All-Star team

Here’s what Baseball America said about Bogaerts while naming him the top prospect in the Red Sox organization (talk about a no-brainer) entering 2014: He’s major-league ready as a shortstop or third baseman, one who will hit lower in the order to begin 2014, with a likely peak of 25-plus homers in the middle of the lineup. .... “They may end up making a statue of this guy,’’ said one evaluator. Bogaerts made a spectacular impression in the postseason, showing patience and producing against premier pitching while posting an .893 OPS. He arrived in the big leagues sooner than expected, and he will thrive in the big leagues immediately, whether at shortstop or third base.
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Darron Cummings

The Celtics don’t make the playoffs

The Eastern Conference is brutal this season, with just three teams (Pacers, Heat, Hawks) above .500 as of Monday. You’ll note none of those teams are from the Atlantic Division, which the Celtics, a surprising and entertaining 13-17 at this writing, have led by default much of the season. They’ve recently been surpassed for the division lead and the fourth-seed by the Toronto Raptors and currently hover on the playoff/lottery fringe as the eighth seed, a game ahead of Chicago. Because the Knicks and Nets are so dismal, it’s possible that the Celtics as currently constituted overcome the mighty Raptors of Demar DeRozan and sneak into the postseason. But the hunch here is that Danny Ainge will not keep them as currently constituted, and players such as Brandon Bass will be moved before the season is over.
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Kim Klement

The Celtics don’t end up with one of the big names in the lottery

The Celtics’ pleasant mediocrity is, without a fortunate bounce of the ping-pong ball, going to keep them in the back end of the lottery, picking in the 13 or 14 range. They’ll miss out on one of the potential franchise players at the top of the draft—a six-deep group led by Kansas’s Andrew Wiggins (pictured) and Joel Embiid and Duke’s Jabari Parker. The Celtics got Kelly Olynyk at No. 13 last year. They should get an even more promising player in that range in the talent-rich 2014 Draft, but it’s not the same as getting a franchise cornerstone 10 picks or so higher.
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Steven Senne

Rob Gronkowski returns in Week 4

There have been reports since Gronk suffered a devastating knee injury against the Browns in early December that he would pursue an “aggressive” rehab program with the intent of being ready for the opener. While we’ve seen players come back sooner than expected from a torn ACL—Adrian Peterson being the most notable example—it makes sense for Gronkowski to be patient and make sure he’s fully healed before he returns. It’s more important to have him healthy and as close to his old form as possible at the end of the season than the beginning.
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Jim Davis/Globe Staff

Bruins defeat the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals

The degree of difficulty with this one got tougher in the final week of 2013 when tough, steady defenseman Dennis Seidenberg was lost for the season to a knee injury. But Claude Julien’s team has proven remarkably resilient in the face of mounting injuries this season, and there remains a deep and talented core. Plus, Tuukka Rask has confirmed his status as one of the league’s elite goalies. They’ll miss Seidenberg, but they are still fully capable of exacting their revenge on the Blackhawks for their six-game Cup-capturing victory this past season.
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Darron Cummings

Paul Pierce re-signs with the Celtics

Wishful—or maybe wistful—thinking? Sure. It’s still strange to see Pierce, a 15-year Celtic whose No. 34 will hang from the Garden rafters someday, wearing the stark black and white of the underachieving Brooklyn Nets. But it’s also reasonable to suggest that Pierce, 36 now and averaging career-lows (including a 12.6 ppg scoring average) across the board, will want to end his career on a better note and in a better place. He’s a free agent after the season, and coming back to Boston to wind down his career as a role player off the bench would be the perfect epilogue.
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